UK shared hosting is a web hosting service encompassing all shared hosting providers offering specialized hosting for UK-based websites. With this web hosting service, UK website owners can host their website and put it online for everyone to see. They would share their web hosting server and all their resources with other UK-based websites and get all the features and services needed to host a website online.
Without a hosting provider, you, as a website owner, won’t be able to get your website online. Thus, web hosting is essential for every website out there.
Here Are the Top UK Shared Hosting Providers:
- Hostinger – Best Fully Managed UK Shared Hosting
- HostArmada – Best UK Shared Hosting Overall
- Ultahost – Best UK Shared Hosting for First-Time Website Owners
- IONOS – Best UK Shared Hosting for Flexibility
- FastComet – Best cPanel UK Shared Hosting
- Verpex Hosting – Most Affordable UK Shared Hosting
The Best UK Shared Hosting Services of 2024 (Bought and Tested):
Hostigner is arguably one of the best and most powerful web hosts on the market. It offers powerful servers in the UK, making it ideal for UK-based websites and websites that want to target the UK market specifically. Also, it comes with fast, scalable, fully managed, and beginner-friendly shared hosting, which is great for both small and medium-sized websites and budgets.
- Overall Score: 4.6
- Pricing: 4.6
- Features: 4.6
- Performance: 4.6
- Support: 4.7
- User Friendly: 4.7
Pricing: Hostinger offers three fully managed shared hosting plans that come with 30-day money-back guarantees. The entry-level web hosting plan, called Premium, costs $2.99/month (on a four-year billing period) and includes hosting for 100 websites, 100GB of SSD storage, unlimited bandwidth, unlimited free SSLs, weekly backups, and one email account.
Features: Hostinger users get access to a bunch of useful hosting features, such as marketing integrations, automatic website migration, 150 designer-made templates, AI tools, DDoS protection, a malware scanner, WAF, a secure access manager, a website builder, backups, emails, free SSL certificates, Google Analytics, and more.
Performance: This web host truly shines when it comes to performance, offering a 99.9% uptime guarantee, fast loading speeds, and servers all over the world, including ones in the UK. Also, you can get a free CDN and ObjectCache, which will boost your performance even further.
Support: As a Hostinger user, you’ll enjoy round-the-clock customer support via live chat and email, as well as many useful written guides and tutorials on how to use certain tools and complete tasks, which are available on the provider’s website.
User Friendly: Hostinger is ideal for beginners, offering fully managed shared hosting where its team takes care of all the technical aspects of your hosting for you. Also, you’ll get a no-code website builder, an intuitive hosting dashboard, one-click installs, an AI copywriting tool, AI SEO tools, AI heatmaps, and guided setups.
Pros & Cons
- You’ll get fully managed shared hosting optimized for UK websites and visitors.
- All Hostinger users receive 24/7 customer support.
- The provider offers super affordable prices and includes a wide range of features in all its plans.
- You won’t get phone support (but the live chat and email support are more than enough).
While conducting our review, we found that HostArmada is the best UK shared hosting provider on the market, thanks to its excellent all-in-one shared hosting plans that include all the features needed for hosting a website plus some extra! What’s best, many of the extra features this provider offers come free of charge.
- Overall Score: 5.0
- User-Friendly: 5.0
- Support: 5.0
- Features: 5.0
- Data Centers: 5.0
- Pricing: 4.9
User-Friendly: User-friendly interface that allows you to set up and launch your UK shared hosting plan in a few clicks using the provider’s drag-and-drop SiteBuilder, 1-click WordPress install, and “Prepare for Launch†features.
Support: 24/7/365 customer support is available via live chat, phone, and a ticketing system. HostArmada’s tech support team will answer you within 10 minutes, has a 99% support case resolution, and offers assistance for virtually every hosting-related issue.
Features: All UK shared hosting plans come with free SSL, free website migration, free web server caches, a free cPanel Control Panel, free daily backups, a free domain, unlimited databases, unlimited email accounts, unlimited subdomains, malware scans & removals, and WAF & IP Firewall.
Data Centers: HostArmada has a wide server network with data centers on three different continents. It operates on a state-of-the-art cloud platform and uses KVM virtualization, fast-paced SSD storage, and best-in-class hardware. In addition, all HostArmada services come with a 99.9% uptime guarantee.
Pricing: With HostArmada, you can choose your billing plan and pay on a monthly, annual, biannual, or triennial basis. The best offer for the provider’s entry-level UK shared hosting plan is $2.99/month and comes with 1 website, 15GB SSD, 2GB RAM, 2 CPU Cores, and a 45-day money-back guarantee.
Pros & Cons
Pros:
- Lightning-fast and reliable performance with SSD and a 99.9% uptime guarantee
- A data center located in the UK
- Many useful freebies are included
Cons:
- Higher monthly prices (the 3-year plan comes with the best deals)
UltaHost is one of the fastest web hosting providers out there that offers fast, stable, and reliable shared hosting for your website. All plans come with unlimited bandwidth and a free cPanel license, making this option ideal for first-time website owners on lower budgets.
- Overall Score: 4.9
- User-Friendly: 4.9
- Support: 4.9
- Features: 4.8
- Data Centers: 4.9
- Pricing: 4.9
User-Friendly: UltaHost’s UK shared hosting plans have a free cPanel license. Using the cPanel control panel, you’ll get all the tools needed to manage your hosting in one place and an easy-to-navigate interface that even beginners can use. It offers easy-to-use point-and-click hosting management.
Support: UltaHost has web hosting professionals on standby 24/7 that will help you with everything you need. You can reach them via email, phone, and a live chat feature on the provider’s website.
Features: With UltaHost, you’ll get features like SSD & NVMe Storage, built-in security updates, free SSL, unlimited bandwidth, a free cPanel license, free daily backups, free domain transfer, DDoS protection, pro-active monitoring, 1-click apps for WordPress, Joomla, phpBB, and more.
Data Centers: UltaHost uses RAID 10 NVMe storage, the latest Intel Xeon Gold and Platinum processors, and next-generation hardware in all its data centers. It has data centers in 12 locations worldwide, covering four different continents and eight countries.
Pricing: With UltaHost’s cheapest UK shared hosting plan, you’ll get 1 domain, 30GB NVMe SSD, unlimited bandwidth, and up to 10,000 monthly visits for $3.29 a month. All plans come with a 30-day money-back guarantee.
Pros & Cons
Pros:
- Top-tier hardware and high-performance servers with a 99.99% uptime guarantee
- Excellent security with DDoS protection and automatic updates
- Large network of Tier-3 data centers that cover four continents
Cons:
- No data centers in the UK (but it has a data center close by – in Finland)
Are you looking for a highly flexible UK shared hosting provider with fast speeds and highly scalable services? Well, in that case, IONOS is the right solution for you. It’s easy to scale and excellent for up-and-coming websites looking to grow quickly and smoothly.
- Overall Score: 3.9
- User-Friendly: 3.8
- Support: 4.0
- Features: 3.5
- Data Centers: 4.3
- Pricing: 3.9
User-Friendly: IONOS offers a user-friendly interface and allows developers to automate deployments in three steps. Everything you need is right there on your dashboard and easily accessible.
Support: The provider offers 24/7 customer support via phone and live chat, and it has a help center full of guides you can use for various web hosting-related issues and tasks, from domains and SSL certificates to technical malfunctions and web security.
Features: All of IONOS’ shared hosting plans come with an SSL certificate, DDoS protection, backups, a 99.9% uptime guarantee, PHP support, Cloudflare CDN, IONOS Hosting Manager app, and more.
Data Centers: IONOS is partnered with Equinix, a company that operates high-performance data centers worldwide. It has a data center in London, making it excellent for UK shared hosting. All its data centers are PCI-DSS compliant and protected 24/7.
Pricing: The provider’s starter plan costs $4/month and comes with hosting for one website, 10GB storage, 10 databases, daily backup, and recovery, and it can handle up to 100 visitors per minute. You can also get IONOS’ bestselling shared hosting plan for $1/month for the first year.
Pros & Cons
Pros:
- Flexible plans that you can upgrade whenever you want
- Top-tier data centers with high-quality hardware
- Easy-to-use control panel and affordable prices
Cons:
- Not the best customer support (but can still get the job done)
This one is for all the cPanel enthusiasts out there. FastComet is the ideal web hosting provider for those who want to use cPanel to manage their web hosting plans. It pairs perfectly with this control panel and offers a plethora of other features that you can take advantage of.
- Overall Score: 4.9
- User-Friendly: 4.9
- Support: 4.9
- Features: 4.8
- Data Centers: 4.9
- Pricing: 4.7
User-Friendly: FastComet’s services match cPanel’s ease of use and, together, offer a highly intuitive web hosting interface with immediate deployment, a drag-and-drop website builder, 1-click installs, and more.
Support: The provider offers 24/7 customer support and excellent response times of around 15 minutes. You can reach the provider’s team via live chat, phone, and a ticketing system.
Features: Every FastComet shared hosting plan comes with a wide range of features, including cPanel, Softaculous, daily backups, Cloudflare CDN, an SSL certificate, BitNinja, multiple PHP versions, 350+ free website templates, unlimited email accounts, and more.
Data Centers: FastComet has 11 data centers in Europe, Asia & Oceania, and North America, including one in the UK. All data centers house more than one thousand servers each and offer a 99.9% uptime guarantee. And if you experience downtime, FastComet will apply 10% of your monthly fee as credit for every hour of downtime you get.
Pricing: The entry-level shared hosting plan costs $2.19/month and comes with hosting for one website, free website transfer, free domain registration, 15GB SSD storage, and a 45-day money-back guarantee.
Pros & Cons
Pros:
- A wide array of features on all shared hosting plans
- Multiple top-tier data centers worldwide with excellent performance and a 99.9% uptime guarantee
- Compensation for any experienced downtime except for the downtime necessary for maintenance
Cons:
- Prices increase on renewal (but are still worth it because of all the features you’ll get)
Verpex offers a little something for everyone, especially those who are trying to start their online business on a tighter budget. It’s the best cheap web hosting plan on the market and offers all the services and features you need to get your website off the ground!
- Overall Score: 4.9
- User-Friendly: 4.9
- Support: 4.9
- Features: 4.8
- Data Centers: 4.9
- Pricing: 4.8
User-Friendly: Verpex uses cPanel, one of the most popular and easy-to-use control panels for all its web hosting plans. Also, it offers 1-click installs, an easy-to-use Sitebuilder, and instant setups.
Support: Like many other web hosting providers, Verpex also offers reliable 24/7 customer support via live chat, phone, email, and a ticketing system. Also, it has an extensive knowledge base you can use to complete various tasks and solve web hosting-related issues.
Features: All of Verpex’s shared hosting plans come with fast-paced SSD storage, cPanel, free SSL, free migrations, daily backups, LiteSpeed Webserver, free domains, and a 45-day money-back guarantee.
Data Centers: You can choose from 12 server locations that are spread all over the world, including Europe, Asia & Oceania, North America, and South America. It also has a data center in the UK, which is ideal for UK-based websites.
Pricing: You can buy Verpex plans on a monthly, annual, biannual, and triennial basis. The entry-level plan costs $0.50 and comes with hosting for one website, 10GB bandwidth, 1GB SSD, free SSL, daily backups, and free migrations.
Pros & Cons
Pros:
- Most affordable UK shared hosting plans on the market
- Very easy to use and manage
- Datacenter in London, ideal for UK-based websites and website visitors
Cons:
- Lower uptime guarantee than most other web hosts – 99.5% (others offer 99.9% or 99.99%)
Best UK Shared Hosting Services: Final Recommendations
As you can see, there are many excellent UK shared hosting providers to choose from on the market. And all of them offer something different and are suitable for different purposes. So, before you choose, make sure to decide what you need and what kind of website you want to create and host. That way, you’ll pick the most suitable provider for your needs.
After conducting our tests and analyses, we can confidently say that HostArmada is the best UK shared hosting provider available at the moment. So, we recommend it to everyone who’s looking for top-notch UK shared hosting for their websites.
Ranking comparison between the Top Providers
How Do We Rank, and How Should You Choose Your UK Shared Hosting?
- Performance and Speed15%
- Pricing and Hidden Fees8%
- Reliable and Responsive Customer Support13%
- Security12%
- Hosting Features10%
- Ease of Use12%
- Independent User Reviews30%
In order to rank the best hosting providers, we test each category specifically by compiling a list of essential factors for the category we are ranking. Also, our experts perform independent tests on each provider to rate their performance and see if it’s good enough for our list. The list of important factors and the ranks are also made in accordance with thousands of independent reviews that our users leave for every provider. In addition, each factor we test has a specific weight which shows how important it is to the category we are testing.
Here are the factors that you need to take into consideration when choosing the best UK shared hosting provider and which we tested in order to rank the best options:
- Performance and Speed (15%): Fast web page load speeds, little to no downtimes, SSD storage, Cloudflare CDN, high-quality hardware, etc.
- Pricing and Hidden Fees (8%): Are the prices suitable for the features and resources you’ll get? Is the provider overpriced? Does it have any hidden fees that it doesn’t tell you about? Does it offer a money-back policy? How long is the money-back policy?
- Reliable and Responsive Customer Support (13%): All providers should offer 24/7 customer support via multiple channels, including live chat, phone, email, etc. Also, they should have help centers or knowledge bases with resources like guides, articles, and other helpful documentation.
- Security (12%): Does the provider offer security features like SSL certificates, backups, DDoS protection, Domain Name Privacy, and many other similar features?
- Hosting Features (10%): Does the provider offer everything you need to host a website successfully? Are there any free services and features included in its plans? How many websites can you host with the provider’s shared hosting plan? Does it offer domain names? Can you transfer your existing domain name?
- Ease of Use (12%): Can beginners use the provider? Is the provider’s interface user-friendly? How long does it take to set up a website? Do you need to use third-party tools to manage your hosting plan? Can you manage your web hosting from one place?
- Independent User Reviews (30%): We use reviews from other people who have already tried out the web hosting providers on our list to see what kind of experiences they had. All the reviews are objective and unbiased, therefore providing an excellent way for us to see if the provider is as good as it claims.
What Is UK Shared Hosting, and Who Is It For?
To know what UK shared hosting is, all you have to do is look at the name. Namely, UK shared hosting is a web hosting service made for UK-based websites that allows them to get online and be available to visitors from the UK but also from everywhere else in the world.
All websites that are on one shared hosting service share the resources the server offers. And even though everyone gets their assigned resources, if someone uses more than is assigned to them, all the other websites on the server will be affected.
Shared hosting is the cheapest web hosting option available and is affordable for everyone, even for those with super-tight budgets. It’s the best and easiest way for websites to get off the ground and grow.
This type of hosting is best for beginners who are just starting out online and need something small and cheap to start. Thus, it’s suitable for small websites with a low number of monthly visitors. Also, it’s suitable for blogs, personal websites, and websites that don’t contain a lot of graphic content like photos, videos, visual guides, or interactive elements.
In conclusion, individuals and small businesses can benefit greatly from this type of hosting and use it to grow online and attain loyal customers worldwide.
Pros and Cons of UK Shared Hosting
Advantages | Disadvantages |
Low Prices: UK shared hosting is the most cost-effective and cheap way for UK-based website owners to get online. It’s also suitable for individuals and businesses from other countries to host websites meant for the UK market. Since you share a server and resources with other users, you only have to cover a small portion of the hosting provider’s overall cost. That’s why this type of hosting is so cheap. | Limited Resources: As you can see from our reviews above, most shared hosting plans come with enough resources to host up to a few simple websites. Also, they can handle a smaller number of monthly visitors and offer limited amounts of storage, restricting you in how much content you can add before your website starts to lag. |
Easy to Use: Most shared hosting plans come with 24/7 customer support and fast setup processes that everyone can handle. The hosting provider will set up your shared server for you according to the plan you buy, so all you’ll have to do is get a subscription and set up a hosting account. | Not as Secure as Other Hosting Plans: If one website on a shared server gets hacked, your website might also get attacked. Also, shared hosting servers as a whole are easier to hack since they’re not as secure as other servers. And if a hacker attacks the server directly, then all the websites on it are in jeopardy automatically. |
No Maintenance: Not only will your hosting provider set up your server for you, but it will also maintain it and keep it working properly. Also, you won’t have to worry about the maintenance of the physical servers either, as your provider takes care of that too. Moreover, your provider will make all the necessary software updates and keep everything running at peak efficiency. |